


no plan (for a winter wonderland)

by perihelion (mattratat)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Sorry I got too lazy to tag everyone, baking!!!!!, hearts for the holidays zine, merry crismiss!!!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:14:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21956464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattratat/pseuds/perihelion
Summary: That year had been the last year any of them had tried to make an attempt at celebrating, of course.Now that they were older and he wasn’t a child anymore, he didn’t expect any of them to make much of a fuss about the holidays.He was wrong. He was so wrong.Somehow, it was worse now that they were all adults and they were driving Ienzocrazy.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	no plan (for a winter wonderland)

**Author's Note:**

> For the [hearts for the holidays zine!](https://twitter.com/KHholidayzine)

Holidays had never been much of a concern when it came to the crew of Radiant Garden. The holidays themselves, anyways. No one had ever seen a need to bother with them, except for Braig who was happy to find any excuse to take a day off of work.

Of course, that had changed a little when Ienzo arrived. He was five when his first holiday season rolled around. The crew had absolutely no idea what to do with him, but luckily he couldn’t remember his parents making much fuss over holidays, either. Still, they’d banded together to get him a handful of gifts, mostly books and science kits that they hoped would interest him, a purple scarf similar to Ansem’s own signature one. He’d worn in nearly nonstop until spring had come and it had found its way back into the closet in hopes of keeping it clean from all the mud. As if Ienzo went outside often enough for that to be a concern.

By the time he was seven, they had fallen into something that could almost be called a routine for the holidays. When the first snow of the year started to fall, Ienzo would watch it out the window with wide eyes filled with fascination. It wasn’t like snow was a foreign concept, of course, but he was still at that age where it’s arrival was a welcome and unexpected surprise. He would watch it fall for hours, until Ansem and the others would emerge from the labs and find him still sitting like that. They’d send Braig or Dilan to fetch his coat, whichever one was feeling more amiable that day, and take him out to play before it got too dark out. 

Ienzo still remembered their miserable attempt at putting together a snowman. They hadn’t had any carrots at the time, so they improvised and used a kitchen whisk for the nose. No one had been willing to give up their coat buttons for the eyes and mouth, so they’d let him try to carve one in with his fingers. It had been a complete monstrosity. Looking back, he knew he’d been proud of it, but he couldn’t imagine how the others had kept from laughing at him. 

The next year, Even and Xehanort had been too busy with the heart experiments to pay much attention to the snow. Ienzo had pouted plenty, but in the end he’d gone out to play with only Aeleus and Dilan. They’d even tried to rope Braig in again, but they didn’t have much success. He was also far more interested with the happenings of the scientists ever since Ansem had left them. 

Ienzo had tried his best to keep from getting too upset about the whole ordeal. But he still remembered the pang of sadness that had pierced his heart when he’d realized that the others really weren’t even going to come see the year’s first snowman. 

That year had been the last year any of them had tried to make an attempt at celebrating, of course. 

Now that they were older and he wasn’t a child anymore, he didn’t expect any of them to make much of a fuss about the holidays. 

He was wrong. He was so wrong. 

Somehow, it was worse now that they were all adults and they were driving Ienzo  _ crazy _ . 

“I really don’t understand why you need my help for this,” he was saying, staring wistfully at his computer and the notes he’d just been cheerfully pulled away from. By Aeleus, the last person he’d expect to be a traitor like this, of all people, who was happily leading him towards the kitchen. 

“Because,” was all he got in return. Ienzo had to fight the childish urge to stick his tongue out at the guard in response to that and he only barely managed it. The way Aeleus snorted at him meant that he definitely hadn’t managed to keep his irritation off his face, though. 

Baking had never been on the agenda when he was a child. He didn’t understand why it was on the agenda  _ now. _

Although, he wasn’t entirely sure that the sight he was met with in the kitchen could actually be called “baking.” 

There was flour  _ everywhere _ . There was chocolate not just on Dilan’s face, but in Ansem’s hair as well. Even Even was there and he looked like a mess. A slightly fuming mess, too, which is probably why Ienzo was pulled from his work to make sure none of them tried to attempt a homicide today. That was typically Aeleus’ job, but the glare that Even was giving him made it fairly clear that he’d been an instigator in this incident.

Ienzo sighed. 

“What exactly are you all doing?” he asked. His question was mostly directed at Even, who he would have expected to be focused on his work more than anything like this. Ienzo wondered when they’d managed to drag Even out of the labs. How had he not noticed that? Maybe he needed a break from the labs after all.

“Baking,” Aeleus answered, looking rather pleased with himself for speaking up. 

“Attempting to,” Dilan chimed in, flicking his whisk while he spoke. Ienzo watched as potatoes flew off the end of it… hitting the back of Even’s head. 

Ienzo opened his mouth to alert Even to this, but a look from Dilan silenced him. Even seemed to be at the end of his rope already, it was probably best to avoid irritating him more. Ienzo didn’t want to admit it, but there was something familiar about keeping secrets from Even together that made him feel a little bit like a child again. 

“Where can I help?” he asked. 

Aeleus cracked a smile at him and Ienzo decided that maybe caving wasn’t such a bad idea after all. His research could wait. 

“Ansem and I are about to start frying the latkes,” Even said. His tone was deadly serious, like it was when he was giving orders at the beginning of an experiment. Ienzo found himself nodding at each word. “Cookies are cooling, Aeleus is melting chocolate for the peppermint bark, and Dilan is causing problems. So decorate the cookies?” 

Ienzo nodded as Dilan mimed flicking more potato at the back of Even’s head. Ienzo hid a laugh with the back of his hand as he moved into the kitchen, spotting the cooling cookies on a rack, shoved off to the side of the oven.

“When did you even start on all of this?” he asked, as he grabbed the cookies, gently moving them to the island. He didn’t want to try and decorate them while bumping elbows with the entire Castle’s crew. 

“We started last night,” Ansem answered. “It was Aeleus’ idea.” 

Ienzo raised an eyebrow in questioning, but Aeleus just shrugged, turning back towards the microwave. 

“A break sounded like a fine idea,” Ansem continued cheerfully, adding the chicken oil into his pan. “Everyone has been working so hard, it seemed like a shame to let the holidays pass without a little fun.” 

Even huffed something at that, but it was entirely incoherent. It was hard to keep from smiling at the pair of them when they bickered like that. Dilan liked to compare them to an old married couple whenever they had a spat. It always got a chuckle out of Aeleus (and usually Ienzo, too, though he was loathe to admit it). 

He turned his attention to the cookies as Ansem addressed whatever comment Even had made, letting the noise of conversation fade into the background as he assessed the situation in front of him. The cookies were drying in rows of four by four, but there was an odd row of five, leading to seventeen cookies in total. Three of them were shaped like bells, six where snowmen, there were four gingerbread men, and four wreaths. The icing was divided into red, green, white, blue, and a slightly greyer white that Ienzo guessed was supposed to be silver. 

And there were glittery sprinkles. Cute. 

Decorating them wasn’t so bad, but it was hard to keep himself from using the same tight precision he would have with a sample in the lab. Every once and awhile, Ienzo found himself poking and prodding with a toothpick to make sure that a spec of glitter was in the perfect spot, only to remember that it really didn’t matter where the glitter went, so long as it didn’t end up on the floor. 

He was pleasantly surprised at the peacefully ambiance that fell over the kitchen as everyone became engrossed in their various tasks. Thankfully, no one at the stove seemed to fall victim to grease burns on behalf of the latkes, and Aeleus had started to hum under his breath at some point. It was… nice. 

It was no surprise at all that the time seemed to fly by as he became engrossed in his decorating. It was an easy rhythm to fall into as Aeleus hummed and the others occasionally spoke to each other. Every once and awhile, they threw a question or two Ienzo’s way and he joined in on the conversation, but frankly, he enjoyed listening to them converse much more than actually participating. 

“Well,” Ansem said, startling all of them out of their flow. “I do believe we’ve gotten enough done today. How about we make some hot cocoa and call it a day?” 

“You’re so tacky,” Even replied, but he seemed quite pleased by the idea despite his rude words. 

“Hot cocoa sounds great,” Ienzo agreed.

As they began to trickle out of the kitchen, mugs in hand, Ienzo couldn’t help but think about the work he could have gotten done in the labs during the hours he spent frosting cookies or crushing peppermint pieces. 

Aeleus nudged his shoulder, handing him a cup of hot cocoa and offering him a warm smile to go with it and effectively knocking Ienzo out of his thoughts in the process. 

“Thank you,” he said. He wasn’t sure what he was thanking Aeleus for, truth be told. The cocoa? Getting him away from his work for a few hours? Making the attempt to make the remains of their family feel whole again? All of those things? 

He smiled and took the cup. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading!!! have a great day/holiday if u celebrate!!!!
> 
> twitter @vanitashours


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